Chris Hansen travelled to a screening of the Pattinson film about him and was turned away at the door

Right, so here’s one that really leans into that 'truth is stranger than fiction' territory. Robert Pattinson is starring in Primetime, a crime thriller that reimagines what went down behind the scenes of the infamous US reality show To Catch a Predator. Yes, the one fronted by Chris Hansen — the bloke who’d pop out from the kitchen with a camera crew and a stack of transcripts. But if you’re expecting a straight, documentary-style retelling, hold your horses: the film’s director, Lance Oppenheim, has been more than upfront that he’s not messing with strict accuracy here.

Oppenheim described his approach to The Hollywood Reporter as 'docufantasia', explaining, 'I always loved the way To Catch a Predator mixed truth and fiction. Creating this apparatus, blending artifice actors with fake decoy houses and props like the sweet tea and the pepperoni pizza, that would then collide with very, very real stakes.'

This blend of fact and fabrication isn’t just meta — it’s deliberate. Oppenheim wanted the film to mirror the odd mix of reality and staged spectacle that To Catch a Predator was itself. It’s as much about the dark stuff—public humiliation, the whiff of tabloid sport— as it is about slyly poking fun at the production circus behind these “sting” set-ups. You can expect the pepperoni pizza — but don’t expect an easy time working out what’s genuinely historic and what’s pure invention for the sake of the story.

Chris Hansen’s Screening Drama

Now, here comes a juicy bit. You’d think Chris Hansen might at least get a peek at the movie about, well, basically his biggest claim to fame. But according to Hansen himself, it didn’t quite go that way. He dished out the details recently on Fox News’ Jesse Watters Primetime — sounds like he trekked all the way to a private screening, only to be turned away at the door. The reason? A24 (the studio behind Primetime) wanted him to sign over quite a few rights first — not just his name and image, but anything legal that could crop up in connection with the film. He wasn’t having it.

Explaining what happened, Hansen said, 'The lawyers at A24 wanted me to sign away my rights to my name, image, and brand, essentially, as well as any potential legal rights that would come out of the movie. I couldn’t sign that, so they didn’t show me the film. I went all the way over there.'

The story didn’t change much when Hansen popped up later on the Serialously With Annie Elise podcast: he hasn’t seen the film, and he reckons the trailer makes it obvious this isn’t a straight biopic. Apparently, others have seen it without any legal faff — just not the man himself. An odd one, that.

Director’s Thoughts on Hansen

Oppenheim, for his part, told THR he’s actually looking forward to Hansen watching Primetime — whether that’s at the cinema or somewhere else. He’s left the door very much open for a reaction, saying he’s genuinely interested to hear what Hansen will make of this wild ride when he finally gets his chance to watch it.

In Oppenheim’s words to Variety: 'I’m excited for him to ‘have a seat’ and watch the movie in a movie theater, if that’s where he chooses to watch it. I hope, when the time comes, that he sees it — and I’m excited to hear what he has to say about it.'

Primetime lands in UK cinemas on 25 September.

The film releases nationwide in late September 2026.